The long-term cost of incarcerating the nation’s youth is between $8 and $21 billion, according to a report out Tuesday. The Justice Policy Institute’s “Sticker Shock: Calculating the Full Price Tag for Youth Incarceration” says Florida’s base cost is $55,000 dollars per juvenile per year. From there, the number increases. According to the Justice Police Institute’s executive director, Marc Schindler, the total cost of detaining juveniles is about more than running juvenile detention centers. It also includes lost future earnings, tax payments from confined youth, future reliance of formerly confined youth on public assistance. Previous studies suggest that kids locked up for minor crimes might go down a worse path; the incarceration of youth increases the likelihood that they will commit new offenses, and this Justice Policy study considers the costs of those harmed by these new offenses.

Juvenile Detention: Its costs go beyond the costs of running the detention facility.